Once again, a fairly late start after a nice breakfast put together by our innkeeper. About 10am. Roy and I were very optimistic about covering the 132 miles with the help of that wind from the east. And, it appeared we were going to have a fairly flat ride with only 2000' of climb. Well, we are quickly finding out that the Belgium winds are outsmarting us. Again, we were facing into the wind most of the day, although more in the 5-10mph range. But, any wind at all really extends the amount of work expended, since our own speed is creating winds in the 15-25mph range, depending on our own speed. And, by the time we had covered 40 miles, we were pretty certain we had eaten up that 2000' and then some.
We met Gwen for lunch in a charming town with a huge newer (probably 1800's) cathedral and an almost equally big older (probably 16th century) cathedral in a large and bustling square. We decided to meet up again in a small town of Hollain, which turned out to be about 110 miles from the start. By the time we arrived there, it was 5:30pm. We decided not to ride to the finish, we still had to drive 30 miles to Cambrai and our hotel. Another Chateau, by the way, charming old place. We unpacked, had dinner at the Chateau, I had a chance to sample foie guis. Very, very tired.
We are finding it very difficult to complete each stage from start to finish. To do so would force us to eliminate any enjoyment of our surroundings. I think we are going to need to reevaluate how far we want to go each day in order to also enjoy time at our end points.
Hi, Dana!! (She asked me to acknowledge her...what can I do?)
We met Gwen for lunch in a charming town with a huge newer (probably 1800's) cathedral and an almost equally big older (probably 16th century) cathedral in a large and bustling square. We decided to meet up again in a small town of Hollain, which turned out to be about 110 miles from the start. By the time we arrived there, it was 5:30pm. We decided not to ride to the finish, we still had to drive 30 miles to Cambrai and our hotel. Another Chateau, by the way, charming old place. We unpacked, had dinner at the Chateau, I had a chance to sample foie guis. Very, very tired.
We are finding it very difficult to complete each stage from start to finish. To do so would force us to eliminate any enjoyment of our surroundings. I think we are going to need to reevaluate how far we want to go each day in order to also enjoy time at our end points.
Hi, Dana!! (She asked me to acknowledge her...what can I do?)
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